Killer of Russia’s investigative scribe identified

RIA Novosti Moscow, March 28 (RIA Novosti) The killer of Russia’s investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya has been identified and placed on the country’s ‘most wanted’ list, the prosecutor general’s office said Friday. The Novaya Gazeta journalist, who gained international recognition for her criticism of the Kremlin and reports of atrocities against civilians in the troubled republic of Chechnya in the Caucasus, was gunned down in the entryway of her Moscow apartment building in October 2006.

“The person who killed Politkovskaya has been identified, and investigators are taking steps to trace and arrest the suspect,” Vyacheslav Smirnov from the prosecutor general’s office said.

The official said that nine people have so far been charged in the case, including former FSB Colonel Pavel Ryaguzov, who is alleged to have passed the journalist’s address onto accomplices.

A military court Friday extended Ryaguzov’s custody until August 21.

In December 2007, a Moscow court remanded in custody until April 7 three other suspects in the case, including a former police official in Chechnya. All the suspects have denied the charges against them. RIA Novosti